Need help selecting a good BOTTOM mount turbo manifold!!!

[EH240SX97']

Can anyone turn me onto a good quality bottom mount turbo manifold?

[TrunkMonkey]

phatka-t.com

-demetrius

[Projex240]

Phatka-t has a GREAT bottom mount manifold, probably the best out there. There is also the SSA route, in which some have good things to say, others havent had anything other than bad things to say. The phatka-t manifold is HUGELY overpriced, at i think around 800 bucks--the ssa one can be had for less than 200.

I have an SSA top mount manifold, and couldnt be happier with it.

-Josh

[IvanAtSPRacing]

Can you please state why you think the PhatKA-T manifold is overpriced? Expensive yes, but overpriced, I think your mistaken.

The manifold I build is the highest quaility in material and construction that you can buy for a KA24 DE. I will put my manifold up against anything else out there when it comes to construction, materials, and performance and will come out on top.

Talk to any of my customers and you will find out what customer service is. remember, your not just purchasing a manifold, your also paying for somebody to be on the end of the phone when you call, answer your questions, help you out when you have problems, make sure your happy, give you the best possible advice. I am not selling stuff JUST to make a profit. I cant tell you how many times I have talked people out of buying something from me because they just have no need for it. I would rather a customer SAVE his money then jump on some band wagon and spend money that isnt needed.

[Jookmasta]

you get what you pay for.............i have a friend with a SSA manifold and he is extremely happy with it. he hasnt had any issues with it or anything. i think his is top mount tho. support the sponsors! (shameless plug)

[EH240SX97']

WOW that phat racing manifold is BEAUTIFUL. Fine work. Unfortuantely that is alittle out of my price range. Its seems that my choices are somewhat limited as to which manifold to choose if I want to bottom mount it... Keep up the suggestions and hopefully soon there will be a turbo kouki running around Bowling Green.

[Projex240]

Theres no quesiotn that its a quality piece. But there are others that are of good quality, and have a price tag that is quite a bit lower than 750. I dont know what teh materials are, but there arent much differences in price between the ones used by one shop versus the other save the REALLY cheap crap. PLaces like etd and *** use good materials, yet not as expensive as yours. Im not doubting its quality, just that you have to cahrge 750 to make your money. Its overpriced b/c its could be cheaper and still be a profitable thing for you to market and sell. Alot of phatka-t's things are over priced, but they are all good things to buy in kit form.

-Josh

[upSLIDEdown]

I'd like to throw in a couple of comments here, as I'm still debating on a manifold. A lot of manufacturers are using 16 gauge tubing for their mani's. I'm almost positive this is what SSA uses. From what I have read, that comes out to .065 wall thickness. Full Race (Yess I know it's $1150) uses 8 ga. weld els, which comes out to .145" wall thickness. The other difference is weld els are the same thickness all the way through the bend, where mandrel bends are stretched therefore the back wall of the bend is thinner than the front wall. Ivan's mani is .120 wall thickness, almost twice as thick as SSA, etc. That's a big difference. ETD does use thick tubing as well (.128"). But their mani is $650 in stainless. Ivan's is $750. Not quite as big of a difference as you make it out to be. I'm just stating the facts here. On the flip side of things, I've called Ivan about different things over the past few months (mani's, AEM EMS system, etc.) to get pricing or information. Ivan's a very nice guy! He was supposed to call me back 3 different times, but I never heard from him... Ended up having to call him back. Now maybe they were just busy, but that's slacking a little in customer service IMHO. Anyway, there's my $.02.

Bryan

[Projex240]

I can see exactly what you are saying about the thickness of the material used for the mani and its a valid point. I havent ever dealt with ivan myself, so i cant say one way or the other how he is with customers. I know he has an extensive knowledge of tuning, but thats not what im getting at. All i was saying is that for the kind of manifold it is--i couldnt justify the extra 200 bucks form one to the other, no the difference of what i paid for mine to switch to another manifold unless it was a bostdesigns one. For 550, i would pay to get that manifold and downpipe combo.

I guess its all about preference. About teh weldels, i wouldnt worry so much about the thickness in teh middle of the bend as i would the thicknesa dnt eh quality of the welds themselves. They seem to crack more than in the middle of the runner. IM not sure what the thickness is in thousandths, but it is a48mm i think, ill have to check. It may be thicker. I dont know what that equates to exactly.Hopefully, you can find one that is good for your needs. I prefer top mount, but thats just me:)

-Josh

[SloMoe]

I know wasabi garage makes a decent bottom mount KADE manifold that places the turbo in the same location as a stock SR maifold.

[DRIFTEADOR]

full-race collectors,

is there another company who uses real merge collectors?